Kathy's Odyssey: Sainte Ann des Monts

Sainte Anne des Monts From Sainte Flavie

A good day today. It took all day to go what could have taken less than 2 hours. We were on the Trail of the Arts and along the way found a Saturday market with crafts, several art galleries and the most wonderful set of sculptures along the shore that made me think of all the refugees in Europe and made me cry.

A flock of sheep on the lawn of a hotel

The Saturday Market buildings

Sculptures by Marcel Gagnon

In Metis-sur-Mer where we spent most of the day in the 5 acre garden. It was a fishing camp for George Stephen who was the main visionary and financier of the CPR. The lodge, set between the garden and the gulf of St. Lawrence is now a museum and special event site. He left it to his niece who designed the present garden and upgraded the lodge. They had one of the first Kodak cameras and built their own dark room. We spent hours photographing and it was nice to see their early images.

Hope The Photographer at Work

After that all that beauty from art and nature the drive, mostly along the shore, varied between farming country and hilly forested areas was easy. Our motel has picture windows overlooking the gulf and the lights of the town. Our host recommended a restaurant at the other end of town. We decided to walk, giving me 16,000 steps for the day. The whole way we didn't see one person except one derelict guy on a bicycle collecting bottles. The restaurant turned out to be more of a retail fresh fish and lobster place with no one eating in it. The sun was getting low and it spooked me out to think of walking back in the dark plus we would miss the sunset so walked back to the only other restaurant/pub in town as at least it had some cars in front of it. We got a good table overlooking the water and the sunset. The place felt warm and friendly and served great fresh salad and seafood. After dinner the sun had just set and we walked home along the board walk watching the birds feeding along the shoreline.

Life does get quieter after the tourist season. There were a lot of for sale signs on the north shore and here a lot of businesses that have closed down. I’m not sure how much the economy is suffering although the tourist business is doing well with lots of Europeans and Americans coming for the low dollar. It took a lot of calls to find places to stay for the next few days. We are getting into Peeper Season when everyone comes for the fall colour.